RELG 433 - Biblical Archaeology
Problems in Biblical Archaeology
The situation in Iraq
Iraq, occupying the "Land Between the Rivers" or ancient Mesopotamia, is part of the region known as the "Cradle of Civilization" - where the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, and other cultures flourished, and where there are some of the greatest archaeological sites and remains. Because of the ongoing conflicts in the area, and because of difficulties with the West, not much archaeology has been carried out recently, but the treasures found by earlier expeditions were kept on display or in storage at the National Museum of Iraq, in Baghdad. Even before the regime of Saddam Hussein there were problems with archaeological sites being looted, and with the theft of artefacts. The following selection of news reports will give an idea of the extent of the damage, and the loss to the common heritage of world civilization.
The following article was written before the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime.
THIEVES PLUNDERING CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION
Miami Herald, By Barbara Demick, Knight Ridder Newspapers Babylon -
It was no ordinary theft. The burglars knew exactly what they were looking for and how to get it. They came around noon, as the guards were changing shift. They smashed the museum doors and a display case, absconding with cuneiform tablets and cylinders from the 6th Century BC. They left behind gold jewelry that might have tempted amateurs. If there is any doubt that Iraq is skidding into a long downward spiral, the proof can be found here in Babylon, one of the oldest cities known.
Opportunistic criminals are taking advantage of the poverty and lawlessness that prevails in today's Iraq to steal that which is most precious to this country - its glorious past. Quite literally, they are robbing from the cradle of civilization. Babylon today is a forlorn tourist site near the banks of the Euphrates River, 50 miles southwest of Baghdad. It is built around the mustard-brick remains of the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC), the Mesopotamian ruler of ancient Babylonia who earned dubious repute in the Bible for conquering Jerusalem and deporting its kings. Although President Saddam Hussein ordered the palace restored a decade ago, few tourists come here anymore, for there is little to see.
All that remains of the statuary and antiquities that once filled the palace grounds is a black basalt lioness, basking alone in the sunshine. The museum is now closed - a security measure ordered in the aftermath of the April 1996 robbery. Its contents have been moved to Baghdad for safekeeping. "There's nothing to see in there. Just the walls," a guide, Rabha Ameedi, said as he shuffled past the padlocked doors of the Babylon Museum.
Muayed Said Damerji, Iraq's director general of antiquities, says the Babylon case remains unsolved. "We can only guess. These cases usually start with a poor, simple peasant or Bedouin, but they are organized by people who know exactly what they're looking for. Eventually, these antiquities will end up in an art gallery in London or New York, but they haven't surfaced yet," said Damerji.
Throughout Iraq, museums have been closed in an effort to stop the hemorrhaging of antiquities. Catalogs published in London document 5,000 objects stolen or destroyed since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and authorities here say there are hundreds of new cases every month. The thieves are highly motivated because the average wage in Iraq, crippled by economic sanctions, is $2 a month. A small tablet or seal with cuneiform writing can fetch up to $2,000 in London or New York.
The thefts are spectacular and violent. At the museum in Nasiriya, in southeastern Iraq near the ancient city of Ur, believed to be the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham, a policeman was injured and a guard killed by gun-toting antiquities thieves. In Khorasbad, in northern Iraq, thieves dressed in military uniforms sealed off a room containing the statue of a massive Assyrian winged bull dating from 700 BC. They hacked off the head and proceeded to carve it into 11 pieces that they hoped to smuggle out of the country. Ten people were caught and executed last year for their role in the robbery.
Despite such harsh justice, it is almost impossible for Iraq to stop the thefts. There are 10,000 archaeological sites scattered through the country, most of them not fully excavated. According to archaeologists, gang leaders sometimes drive through provincial towns with trucks and shovels, recruiting people to dig for antiquities at poorly guarded sites. "We can't possibly have guards at all these sites and we can't go out and inspect them all," Damerji complained. "We used to do it more often. We used to have 500 cars assigned to the department. Now we have only seven and they're always breaking down."
The looting began in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, when 14 of 18 governates, as Iraq's provinces are known, rose in rebellion against the regime of Saddam Hussein. In the Kurdish areas of northern Iraq, and the southern area populated by restless Shiite Muslims, most of the provincial museums were ransacked. The Iraqi government also complained that American soldiers had hacked off pieces of the Ziggurat at Ur. According to Damerji, the U.S. Army confiscated some of the pieces and returned to the Iraqis a box with 19 stolen pieces.
Iraqi authorities charge - and their accusations are backed up by some archaeologists abroad - that sometimes antiquities are smuggled out by diplomats and U.N. relief workers. Last summer, a landlord was cleaning a Baghdad villa that had been recently vacated by a diplomat. Inside, he found two cartons of archaeological fragments. The Iraqi government hasn't named the diplomat or his country.
Even when a culprit is identified, or pilfered objects located abroad, it doesn't mean they will be automatically returned. Since 1996, the Iraqi government has been pursuing a lawsuit to recover from a London art gallery Assyrian reliefs stolen from the throne room of a palace in ancient Ninevah. The case appears to be airtight: John Russell, a Columbia University archaeologist and art historian, had photographed the reliefs in 1990 in Nivevah and recognized them when they surfaced on the art market. "We know we'll eventually get these back. We have the evidence," Damerji said.
Nicholas Postgate, an archaeologist with Cambridge University and a contributor to Lost Heritage, the catalogue of stolen Iraqi antiquities, said archaeologists in the United States and England are trying to help raise awareness of the problem. "The better antiquities dealers won't handle anything that might be stolen, but there are sleazy dealers out there, too," Postgate said. "And there is a feeling that when it comes to Iraq, it is fair game. They don't have to feel sorry for the Iraqis."
At the same time, the Iraqi leader has come under sharp criticism for insensitivity to Iraq's heritage, especially in Babylon. As part of a controversial series of restorations in the late 1980s, new bricks were piled atop the remains of Nebuchadnezzar's palace with inscriptions that read: "In the era of the victorious Saddam Hussein, the protector of greater Iraq and the restorer of its civilization, this city was rebuilt once again." Looming above Nebuchadnezzar's palace on a man-made hill called "Saddam Hill" is a new palace that was supposed to be a private residence for the Iraqi leader. He never stayed there.
In 2015 ISIS started the systematic destruction of museums, libraries, and archaeological sites in northern Iraq, claiming that they were fulfilling a religious duty, and calling archaeologists "devil-worshippers".
Doubtless this is not the end of the story, but what is certain is that some of the world's greatest archaeological treasures have been destroyed, damaged, or disappeared.
Copyright © 1999 Shirley J. Rollinson, all Rights Reserved
